Dominion online.

• Author: Soave, Robby
• Position: GAME - Brief article - Product/service evaluation

The world of board gaming has grown richer--and more intellectually demanding--over the last decade. In the eyes of serious gamers, once-popular pastimes like Monopoly and Risk are now basically indistinguishable from Candyland. Too much luck, not enough skill.

The most addictive next-generation game is Dominion, a medieval-themed "deck building" card game that recently debuted its long-awaited, new-and-improved online mode. Each player begins with a hand of weak cards that are worth a certain amount of coin and must use them to purchase more valuable cards. Some of these produce additional coin, others increase the number of cards a player can hold at one time, and still others flood opponents' decks with worthless junk.

The story of Dominion Online is as entertaining as the game itself. For years, the games' internet presence took place on a couple of unofficial sites. One was a strategy and discussion forum for the game's sizable fan community, and another site, dominion. isotropic.org, provided a place for actual (unlicensed) play. Isotropic's programmer agreed to...